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Her stripped body was hidden under her bed, where it was found by her then 14-year-old daughter Hannah.

The inquest jury found that Naomi had been unlawfully killed.

The jury then also found the probation and prison services, the police and other agencies had 'more than minimally' contributed to the tragedy.

Killer: Anthony Rice murdered Naomi Bryant only nine months after he was released from a 16-year sentence for rape, indecent assault and actual bodily harm

Some of the jury members wiped away tears as the verdict was read out. Each jury member took it in turns to shake Mrs Bryant's hand as they left the court.

Central Hampshire Coroner Grahame Short said the case was a 'wake-up call' for those responsible for offender management.

Mrs Bryant said: 'I am glad that the result has come out the way it should have done.

'I feel they the authorities have failed themselves and, as the coroner said, it's a wake-up call for all of them.

'Let's hope something better comes out of it.'

The jury found that the failures by the authorities included failing to pass on important information such as previous convictions - including child sex offences - to his parole board and case handlers.

This meant that those directly responsible for Rice's care and release from prison were unaware of how dangerous an offender he was.

Dundee-born Rice, 54, is now serving a life sentence for murder.

A previous inquiry by the Inspector of Probation found that Rice used the threat of human rights action to secure his release from jail.

He later used the same tactic to obtain the relaxation of his licence conditions - making it easier for him to kill.

Full inquests are not normally held into murders, with the finding of how the victim died being left to the criminal courts.

But, because Rice pleaded guilty, the full details were not heard in court. The Government carried out an inquiry into the killing, but in private.

Mrs Bryant, backed by the civil rights group Liberty, was determined a full public inquiry should take place.

Liberty also used the Human Rights Act to demand that Mr Short - who had decided there would be no inquest - reopen the case.

'I am glad that the result has come out the way it should have done.

I feel they the authorities have failed themselves and, as the coroner said, it's a wake-up call for all of them.

'Let's hope something better comes out of it.'

- Verna Bryant, mother of Naomi

The coroner agreed that, under Article 2 of the Act - the right to life - he would investigate at an inquest whether public bodies could be held responsible for the murder.

Liberty said the inquest had uncovered a string of failings in the handling of Rice, who had been jailed in 1989 for attempted rape.

These included how documents containing information about Rice’s violent offences against children may never have been read by officials overseeing his release.

During the inquest, the Coroner was upset by attitudes at the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service.

He accused their civil servants of trying to ‘keep their heads below the parapet’.

Emma Norton, legal officer for Liberty, said: 'Officialdom sought to scapegoat the Human Rights Act for Naomi’s murder - instead the truth is that it has given her family the answers they have been seeking for six years.'

Barrie Crook, chief executive of Hampshire Probation Trust, said: 'We recognise that the family of Naomi Bryant have had to wait a long time for some of the questions raised in this inquest to be answered.

'On behalf of the staff from the probation trust we regret that we were not able to foresee or prevent Anthony Rice from committing this terrible crime.'

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Naomi Bryant inquest: Jury in tears as mother wins six-year fight to hold police, probation and prison service to account